Pumpkin Bread
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Kids love it, grown-ups love it…this pumpkin bread is hard to beat!
My grandmother clipped this pumpkin bread recipe from a magazine over 50 years ago, and it is my most-cherished family recipe. One of my clearest childhood memories is baking the loaves with my mom and carting them off to every neighborhood potluck and holiday party. Now I bake pumpkin bread with my own kids, and it’s just as wonderful today as it was back then. It’s easy to make — just a bit of mixing and stirring, pop it in the oven, and, in about an hour, you’ll have a house smelling of sweet autumn spices and two scrumptious, pumpkiny loaves.
Above, you can see the original recipe from my grandmother’s recipe box—it’s definitely seen its share of spills! After a bit of research, I discovered that the recipe was first published in the McCalls Cook Book (Random House, 1963). It is a typical sweet quick bread, similar to banana bread or cranberry nut bread, leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda instead of yeast. Quick bread batter can often be used to make muffins, and my pumpkin muffins are nearly identical to this bread, but with the addition of a pecan streusel topping.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Pumpkin Bread
How To Make Pumpkin Bread
Begin by combining the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. I like to add everything in neat little piles in case I lose track of what I’ve added.
Whisk well and set aside.
Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat until just combined. It will look a little crumbly.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Continue beating for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
Add the pumpkin.
Beat until combined. It will look a little curdled or grainy — that’s okay.
Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture.
And beat on low speed until just combined.
Transfer the batter to loaf pans.
Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let the loaves cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!
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Video Tutorial
Pumpkin Bread
Kids love it, grown-ups love it…this pumpkin bread is hard to beat!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 (15-oz) can 100% pure pumpkin (I use Libby's)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Generously grease two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans with butter and dust with flour (alternatively, use a baking spray with flour in it, such as Pam with Flour or Baker's Joy).
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until well combined; set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until just blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in the pumpkin. The mixture might look grainy and curdled at this point -- that's okay.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
- Turn the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly, and bake for 65 – 75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Fresh out of the oven, the loaves have a deliciously crisp crust. If they last beyond a day, you can toast individual slices to get the same fresh-baked effect.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (24 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 166
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Sugar: 17 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Sodium: 117 mg
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Made this as directed except substituted splenda for the sugar (I’m diabetic). Apparently that changed the whole thing because after an hour baking at 325 all I had was pumpkin mush, complete failure.
If you substitute and don’t follow the recipe you don’t get to put a 1 star. As written, this recipe produces a beautiful and delicious pumpkin bread.
Finally common sense! I absolutely go bonkers when someone gives a bad rating because they made substitutions and then complain cause it doesn’t taste right. And really SPLENDA!!
This pumpkin bread is perfect. The result turns out moist and full of flavor. I was worried before cooking it because the batter was quite thick and I assumed it may cook to be too dry… but nope! Super moist with the right amount of firmness along the edges. I’m definitely adding this one to my recipe collection.
This is one of the most disgusting pumpkin desserts made on this earth. Really disappointed.
Seriously!!!! I made it last night and was dumbfounded how it has so many high reviews. You guys it has so much sugar it’s disgusting. I even used the last of my fresh pumpkin purée and I’m pissed I wasted it on this. I’m throwing it away!
So cut the sugar down and don’t complain. I make this all the time and do a slight cut back on the sugar, and its perfectly fine.
Has anyone tried to reduce the amount of sugar? I’m wondering how much I could reduce and still have it turn out! Thank you.
Hi Tiffany, You could get away with reducing the sugar by 1/2 cup. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
I reduced to one cup. Still great!
I have to say that I have made this recipe for about 5-6 years now and everytime it has been a hit!! I make this pumpkin bread for coworkers, friends, and family every year and is now a staple for fall and Thanksgiving! My family and I aren’t big fans of pumpkin pie and I just love the smell of fresh pumpkin pies baking, so this recipe changed the game and I get to enjoy that delicious pumpkin smell every year. **A little tip is to make the pumpkin bread the day before Thanksgiving and you will wake up to a delicious treat with your morning coffee and it puts you directly into cooking mode!
This was a wonderful recipe. I actually made one loaf and then divided the rest into 11 cupcakes which were wonderful with a cup of coffee. Thanks so much for sharing. my friends and family will love them!
Hello, can you tell me how long you baked the muffins
Hi Anna, If you want to make muffins, I’d recommend using this recipe (you can omit the streusel) if you’d like. Hope you enjoy if you make them!
I’ve made this recipe three times this past week for multiple people and everyone loved it, it’s the perfect moist texture and so flavorful with all the spices, and a strong pumpkin flavor which is missing in other pumpkin bread recipes. I absolutely love it!
Can anyone tell me how to bake this at a high altitude?
Hi MJ, I don’t have experience baking at high altitudes so, unfortunately, I don’t have any wisdom to share – I’m sorry! You may find these tips helpful though. (And hopefully, another high altitude reader will weigh in with some tips.) 🙂
I have never eaten or baked a pumpkin bread before ( not born and raised here 🙂 thus I was not sure how it s gonna be but I decided to give this recipe a try. Btw, I am a decent baker and picky with cakes &bread. I did make some changes: used only 1 cup sugar, 2/3 tsp cloves, only 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp baking powder, and add 1 tsp cardamom. Kept everything else the same. The result turned out very moist, nice texture, and flavorful. Baked it as one big loaf and brought to work. It was gone very fast. Every one loved it. Thank you very much for sharing the recipe. Now my coworkers are checking out your website 🙂
Can you use just regular butter instead of salted?
Hi Claudia, The recipe calls for unsalted butter. If you’d like to use salted, you would reduce the salt in the recipe to a scant 1/4 teaspoon.